I've got a cheapie Schwinn branded from a regional big box Wal-Mart competitor. Think it cost $18, it is incredibly comfortable and cool. It is quite amazing how much better it is than what I used (or didn't) as a child.

The Netherlands is a different beast. First off, nearly everyone rides a heavy, step-through city type bike. While I'm not naive enough to say you can't wreck one, the things are dang stable and people generally aren't sprinting out KOMs on them. Secondly, the bike is simply part of their life, like our cars. It is how many people get around, how they go about their lives. You don't see anyone in the Netherlands in cycle clothes, either, skirts and peacoats for the women and suits for the men are far more commonplace. Carrying around a helmet to everything you do would make it a hassle that many people would simply give up, it is a large part of the reason everytime a helmet mandate comes up there, it goes nowhere in a hurry. The government has decided the benefits to the majority of the population regularly riding bikes far outweighs the few dozen people a year that could have avoided serious injury or death had they worn one.

Tellingly enough to how our uses of cycles differ, though, nearly every person we saw over our week on recreational rides kitted out on a road bike had a helmet on, we were some of the few on road bikes without helmets.

I'm actually the opposite. I love my helmet in the heat, far cooler to wear than my ball caps. When it drops to 60F or lower, I switch to my wool blend ball cap.

And Spain supposedly mandates them.